Another college basketball program is now dealing with the fallout of an off-court incident that could reshape a player’s future. This time, trouble has surfaced around UNC Wilmington’s women’s team following the arrest of junior guard Paige Smith in Wilmington last week. It’s yet another development that adds to a growing string of legal issues involving college athletes.

College basketball reporter Talia Goodman reported on Monday, Feb. 16, that Smith was arrested by police in the coastal city of Wilmington, North Carolina.

“A University of North Carolina Wilmington women’s basketball player has been arrested on drug charges. According to court documents, 20-year-old Paige Smith was arrested on Tuesday. Smith was allegedly found in the parking lot of New Hanover High School with approximately half a pound of marijuana that was packaged for delivery and distribution. A release order also states that a gun was located inside the vehicle at the time of the arrest, though the weapon did not belong to Smith,” the report stated.

Newly released arrest documents further allege that Smith was sitting inside her vehicle outside Brogden Hall during a New Hanover High School basketball game and was actively smoking marijuana when deputies approached. Authorities say the marijuana was not only in large quantities but packaged in a manner consistent with distribution.

Authorities say Smith is facing several felony charges, including possession with intent to sell or deliver marijuana, felony marijuana possession, and possessing controlled substances within 1,000 feet of a school. She has also been charged with maintaining a vehicle, dwelling, or place for controlled substances, along with a misdemeanor count of possession of marijuana paraphernalia.

Notably, as per court records, Smith has no prior criminal history.

The report further notes that Smith is a pre-psychology major at UNC Wilmington, where she has been enrolled since June 2025. She is also a member of the women’s basketball program, although she has been under suspension since Feb. 9, a full day before her arrest took place.

As reported by Talia Goodman, the program confirmed it had already suspended Smith a day before the incident and released a statement saying, “Consistent with our commitment to student privacy and the integrity of ongoing processes, UNCW will not offer additional comment.”

Smith had joined head coach Nicole Woods’ Seahawks as a junior transfer after playing at a community college in Baltimore, where she had built a reputation as a high-volume scorer. Just one week before her arrest, she had been recognized internally as one of the team’s ‘Players of the Game.’

When Woods announced Smith’s addition to the roster ahead of the season, she praised her offensive ability, saying, “We were looking for a three-level scorer and someone who played with an extra chip on her shoulders. We found it in Paige, and I’m excited about the next three years.”

Smith was described as a 5’7 guard from Hagerstown, Maryland, who previously starred at CCBC Essex before transferring to UNCW. During the 2023–24 season at Frederick Community College, she started all 24 games, averaged 23.2 points per contest, logged nearly 37 minutes per game, and recorded 20 or more points in 19 outings, including a 12-game scoring streak.

Since the arrest, Smith’s player profile has been removed from the UNCW athletics website, further signaling uncertainty around her future with the program.

The situation could mark the end of Paige Smith’s college career after she joined Nicole Woods’ Seahawks as a junior transfer from a Baltimore community college.

That said, she’s also not the only women’s player to be suspended under similar circumstances lately.

Ruby Whitehorn Suffers Same Fate as Paige Smith

Tennessee removed senior guard Ruby Whitehorn from the roster after her second arrest, with head coach Kim Caldwell saying she had a duty to protect the program’s standards.

Whitehorn had been reinstated after a suspension stemming from an August arrest. On September 5, she pleaded guilty to misdemeanor counts of aggravated trespassing and aggravated burglary as part of a judicial diversion agreement related to an August 8 incident, as per ESPN.

Only weeks after returning, campus police stopped Whitehorn again and found marijuana in her possession, leading to a misdemeanor simple possession charge — a development that ultimately resulted in her dismissal from the program.

A few weeks later, she was once again stopped by campus police, who found her in possession of marijuana. She was charged with misdemeanor simple possession/casual exchange and, as a result, was dismissed from the basketball program — a fate similar to that of Paige Smith.